Google is looking to add a new phone service for its Google Fiber users. And if you've been following anything Google has been doing over the past few years, how Google Fiber Phone works shouldn't come as much of a surprise. With it, Google Fiber subscribers can use one phone number for every device they own, from smartphones to landlines. And they'll also get a few of the other Google Voice features, too: voicemails delivered as emails to their inboxes, spam filtering, call screening, and do-not-disturb modes, to name a few extras.

Currently, Google Fiber Phone is only available to those who have been invited to partake in the program, and Google is only inviting people who have previously signed up for the company's Fiber Trusted Tester programessentially, its opt-in beta testing. If you're one of the lucky ones, you'll get a letter from Google asking you if you're interested in taking part. You have one week to reply to Google and, if you agree (and are selected to participate), Google will send a technician out your way to set the service up.

"Please be aware that testing Google Fiber Phone will require a service visit in which a Fiber team member will come to your home to install a piece of equipment. If you're selected for this Trusted Tester group, we'll be actively seeking your feedbackboth good and badso that we can improve Fiber Phone once we launch it to all of our customers," Google's email reads.

And you'll also have to keep your participation in the program hush-hush.

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"Please remember that the Trusted Tester program gives you early access to features which are not yet available to the public, so please help us keep this confidential."

Whoops.

As The Washington Post notes, Google's moveif rolled out to all Google Fiber subscriberswould finally turn Google into a triple-play provider: voice, data, and television. That would put it at the same level as some of its peers like Comcast who, admittedly, have much, much larger market share right now than Google's fast (but fledgling) Fiber. And it could be a stepping stone to Google eventually bundling in its Project Fi service as well, the company's low-cost cellular service that piggybacks on both T-Mobile and Sprint's networks.

About the Author

David Murphy got his first real taste of technology journalism when he arrived at PC Magazine as an intern in 2005. A three-month gig turned to six months, six months turned to occasional freelance assignments, and he has since rejoined his tech-loving, mostly New York-based friends as one of PCMag.com's news contributors.
His rise to (self-desc... See Full Bio

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